


Wayward

by Miz_Spectre



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Brook being pervy, F/M, Gen, Language, Pre-Relationship, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-14 21:15:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5759077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miz_Spectre/pseuds/Miz_Spectre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Directions were all he needed; he wasn't lost, dammit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wayward

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CloudySky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudySky/gifts).



> Dedicated to CloudySky, who always lifts my spirits!
> 
> This is the same AU as Sanji's fic (In Sickness and Health). For those who didn't read that, here's a brief description: Gold City; named for the man who became known as Gold Roger, an explorer who stumbled upon a large deposit of gold and other precious materials. It was a boom town on the coast that grew into a vast city rich with natural resources that came to encompass the land of the native people who were there long before Roger's discovery. Under the modern city is an underground network of extensive caves and passages, home to the underbelly and darker doings - a city beneath a city.
> 
> All recognizable material (characters/concepts/etc.) belongs to the copyright holder(s) of said material. I don't make money from writing fanfiction and don't claim to own any of the copyrighted material. Violation/infringement of copyrighted works is not intended. Original characters and the plot are all that I own.

You watched from an outdoor table at one of your favorite cafes as the green-haired guy approached for the fifth time, that moss-colored head swiveling this way and that as he looked over each building and street sign. The three gold earrings in his left ear glinted with the constant movement in the fading sunlight. 

It wasn't hard to notice the way his white T-shirt hugged his broad shoulders and chest or the way the sleeves strained over his sculpted biceps, a dark bandanna tied over the left one. The shirt was otherwise loose, though held close to his torso by the wide band of green fabric about his waist which incidentally had three swords tucked into it. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his somewhat baggy black jeans tattered with rips here and there tucked into equally worn black boots that were dull and scuffed with fraying laces.

His jaw was set as he looked around, a clearly frustrated _'Where the fuck is this place I'm looking for?'_ expression on his handsome face, which would be decidedly more handsome if he wasn't scowling. Then again, if you couldn't find the place you were looking for after five times, you'd be pretty annoyed too. Gold City was absolutely enormous; locals knew the areas around where they lived and/or worked well but even they could get lost in the city.

"Oi."

Your head snapped up - the green-haired guy had stopped next to your table, staring down at you with an unamused face. The setting sun's light cast harsh shadows on his expression which made him all the more intimidating, even frightening.

"Yes?"

"You know where the Baratie is?"

You blinked. How blunt. "Well... go back down the way you came about four blocks to 122nd Street," you pointed behind him, "then go left and follow the boardwalk. You can't miss it."

"Ah." There was a pause as he processed what you said, turning to face the right direction. "Thanks," he murmured. 

"You're welcome." You nodded as he started off. Though you kept an eye on him as he got further and further away, eventually you lost sight of him in the crowd and your attention was drawn back to the people walking by on the street. 

It was a hobby to watch them. One tiny little detail as inconsequential as a missing button on a jacket could inspire a story. As of late, however, your creativity seemed to have dried up. It was incredibly frustrating. That lost guy was the first to catch your interest in over a month. You had plenty of material just from him alone. 

What was the significance of three earrings? Or the bandanna tied about his arm? How long before those jeans would get completely torn up and have to be thrown out? How many steps had those worn boots taken? How many more would they take until they had to be discarded? And that hair - you'd never seen anyone so serious with hair that hue of green. It reminded you of a lawn. 

A chuckle escaped as you pulled the small notebook from your purse and quickly scribbled those questions and a few notes down. The guy was a miracle, to bring back your inspiration. Too bad he didn't seem to live in the area; you'd probably seen him for the first and last time. What a shame. 

"Oi." 

You lifted your eyes from the page and there he stood again, arms crossed over his chest and lips pulled into a scowl as he glared down at you. Out of instinct, your hand slapped over the paper you'd been writing on (how embarrassing if he _saw_ ), but his eyes didn't move from yours.

"Give me better directions," he demanded. 

"Better..?" Your brows furrowed. "Those were the easiest directions to follow." 

"They sucked. Gimme new ones." 

_This guy...!_ "Those were the simplest ones." 

"And I said they sucked!" He snapped. "Tell me a different way!" 

"They could only suck if you got lost." 

His cheeks flushed pale pink and his scowl deepened. Well damn if you weren't dead on. "I just ended up back here, that's all," he insisted. 

"Right, right," you placated, taking your wallet out and leaving enough money on the table to cover your bill and the tip. You put your wallet, notebook, pen, and cell phone back into your purse before standing. "Come on," you said, ignoring his suspicious stare. 

"Where?" 

"I'm headed that way so I can take you there." He didn't need to know you lived in that direction.

"I can find it on my own-"

"Like how you found your way around this same block five times before you even thought about asking someone where to go and still ended up circling back a sixth time with the simplest directions?"

He scowled. "Those weren't simple!"

Boy, he sure was insistent about not being lost. You could keep arguing with him about how he really was lost, but you had better things to do with the rest of your evening. "Just follow me," you ordered before walking away from your table.

His silence was a blessing considering you were getting that pre-headache tickle between your eyes, but it was a bit unnerving. The least you could do was introduce yourself and make small conversation on the way to the Baratie. Turning your head, you began to introduce yourself only to find that stubborn lawn-headed man was nowhere to be seen. 

He wasn't hard to spot once you actually caught sight of him - across the street, heading in the opposite direction you had been.

The tickle between your eyes grew stronger and you tried to ignore it while hurrying through the crowd as best you could after the directionless idiot you'd saddled yourself with helping to his destination.

"Hey!" You called after him, darting across the street and ignoring when several other people glanced in your direction. "Hey, you're going the wrong way!" Still no response from him. Fine then... "Moss head!"

He whipped around and singled you out in a second, "Who're you calling moss head?!"

If he thought you were going to back down, he was dead wrong. A guy who got lost in the time it took to blink had no business glaring at you like that when you were trying to help him. "The guy growing moss on his head! Would you rather be lawn head?"

"I don't want to be either!" He snapped at you.

"You'd still get lost following a straight line no matter what I called you," you grumbled under your breath, stalking forward and grabbing his hand. Ignoring his sputtering, you turned on your heel and began marching in the right direction, forcing him to follow.

The two of you bickered about why you should or shouldn't have ahold of his hand the entire way, but you made it to the Baratie. However, there was a slight problem.

Though there was quite a racket inside, the sign on the door said the restaurant was closed and going to be closed for three weeks while repairs were being done on the building.

You counted five deep breaths to avoid yelling at him and took a different approach. "I hope you didn't have a date." 

"Hell no!" He snapped, trying to pull his hand away, but you held fast.

"Then what are we doing standing outside of a _closed_ restaurant?"

He muttered something under his breath and walked toward the entrance, easily dragging you along. He pounded one fist against the door, then turned to you. "Get lost," he ordered bluntly.

The irony of his statement was obvious. "Oh, like you? I don't think so. If I let you go now, you'll probably wander off before anyone answers! And why are you meeting someone here? There's no way you work here."

"I don't need to answer you! It's none of your business-"

"It's about time you made it, marimo," another man interrupted from the now open doorway, altogether unimpressed he even showed up.

"Can it, curly brows!" Your moss-headed companion grouched.

"What was that?!" The thinner man stepped forward, blonde hair covering one eye and a burning cigarette between his lips.

"You heard me!"

Tuning out the argument, you peered into the restaurant. A rowdy meal was going on with a handful of people from what you could see and there were stacks of plates on the floor higher than the table. You faintly heard a piano over the din of clinking plates, yelling about stolen food, and laughter.

Were these people that guy's friends?

"ZORO! You made it!" The jubilant shout from inside made you jump and squeeze the lawn-head's hand.

He made some sort of choked noise and immediately yanked his hand from your grasp.

You started to scold him but an arm stretching through the doorway left your mouth hanging open. The hand of the stretchy arm grabbed the front of lawn-head's white tee and then withdrew, snapping back like a rubber band and taking the green-haired man along, slamming him into the table and breaking several plates at the same time.

"Ah, what a lovely lady~" The blond haired man's full attention had come to you. "Are you lost? I would be glad to escort you home~"

"N-no, I just..." Had that been a Devil Fruit ability, that stretching arm? It was the first time you'd seen anything like it so close. "I was helping that guy find his way here."

"You're so kind~" The blond complimented you dreamily.

"Anyway, I should be going-"

Clasping your hand, the blond motioned grandly to the restaurant. "Please stay and eat. As thanks for bringing that _stray cactus_ here."

"Oi, _pervert cook_ , where's the beer?" Said stray cactus called out.

The blond whipped around, cigarette smoke circling his head with the motion. "Get your own shitty beer, marimo!"

"Sanji-kun," a young woman about your age with short, vibrant orange hair leaned back from the table and held up a glass as if she were about to make a toast, "more beer!"

"Yes, Nami-swan~" The blond, Sanji, dashed off to retreive said drink, leaving you standing alone in the doorway.

"Zoro, who's your girlfriend?" You recognized the previously-addressed Nami as the one asking such a blunt question.

Zoro choked on his swig of beer while you choked on air.

"I'm not his girlfriend!"

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"Oh?" That sly, knowing tone of Nami's coupled with Zoro's foul look in her direction caused you to stiffen. Why were you getting a bad feeling about this? "Then you weren't holding hands outside?"

Zoro's brow creased as he glowered at her-

"This guy could get lost on a straight line, how else was he supposed to get here?"

\- and turned that glower onto you, already halfway to the table. "Says the person who gives shitty directions!"

That got you to stomp the rest of the way to the table to the only open seat -- across from Zoro. "You're the one who couldn't follow them, lawn head."

"Because they sucked!"

You slammed your hands on the table, rattling the dishes, and glowered at the equally angry swordsman. "I-"

"May I see your panties, Miss?"

With a yelp, you turned quickly to meet the empty eye sockets of a skeleton. With an afro.

" _Brook!_ " Sanji shouted and not a second later, a foot connected with the skeleton's skull and sent it careening across the room. Sanji landed easily from his flying kick in front of you, bowing with a flourish. A tray with a brightly-colored drink in a tall glass was held aloft in one of his hands. "A lovely drink for a lovely lady."

Words failed you.

These people... were _nuts_.

Sanji beamed when you stiffly took the drink from his tray, spinning off to the kitchen to fetch more food.

A quiet chuckle came from your left as you slowly sank into your seat - the dark-haired woman sitting there looked out of place being so serene with the chaos going on around her. Her brown [1] eyes shone with amusement. "This is all quite normal."

You stared down the length of the table, watching rubber arms stretch and snatch food from plates as the others attempted to stop the theiving hands. There was a long-nosed boy, a tanuki (possibly?), and a man with styled, vibrant blue hair very vocal about the food theft. Nami's plate remained untouched as she flirted with Sanji who eagerly agreed to whatever she was saying and rushed off to the kitchen. The afroed skeleton, Brook, had since regained composure and was playing a lively tune on his violin. That ridiculous lawn-head Zoro wasn't even trying to fend off the thieving rubber hands, more focused on his beer instead.

You turned a flat stare back to her. "Seriously?"

The woman just continued to smile.

 

"Why did I get stuck taking you home, lawn head?"

"You're the one who told Nami where you live! Don't blame me because we live in the same building!"

"If you didn't have such a shitty sense of direction, I wouldn't!"

"Anyone would get lost with your directions!"

"That's just you, grassy knoll."

"The fuck did you just call me?!"

"Oh, did your hearing get lost too, marimo?"

"You bitch...!"

Standing outside of the Baratie, Nami watched you and Zoro get further and further away, your bickering voices fading as you headed off home from the Baratie and glanced sideways at the woman standing beside her. "What do you think, Robin?"

She gave a small chuckle. "They certainly have chemistry."

"They'll thank me later."

 

[1] Robin's eyes are blue in the anime, but are supposed to be brown. Unless Oda changed it.


End file.
